Researching George Connor

He was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1810 and graduated with a law degree from Trinity College. He came to Canada in 1832 and settled near Orillia in Upper Canada. He returned to Ireland in 1834 and was called to the bar there in 1838; he went back to Canada, was called to the bar in 1842 and set up practice with William Hume Blake and Joseph Curran Morrison in Toronto. In 1850, he was named QC. In 1848, he became professor of law at King's College (later the University of Toronto) teaching until 1853. He also served as solicitor for the University and served as chancellor in 1863. In 1857, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the South riding of Oxford; he was elected again in 1861. In 1863, he resigned to become puisne judge in the Court of Queen's Bench.

He died in Toronto in 1863 after an epileptic seizure.

Connor was educated at St John's College, Auckland and ordained in 1966. He was a Theological Tutor for the Church of Melanesia and then a Maori Mission priest for the Diocese of Waiapu. He was Archdeacon of Waiapu and then Regional Bishop in the Bay of Plenty. He was consecrated bishop 2 April 1989 and served the Bay of Plenty until 2005 when he was translated to Dunedin. He resigned his episcopal see on 30 November 2009.

He additionally served as Convening Bishop of Tikanga Pakeha (New Zealand dioceses), 1998–2006, and as such Co-Presiding Bishop of New Zealand, 2004–2006; in retirement, he has served as He Pīhopa Āwhina (an honorary assistant bishop) in Te Tai Tokerau since 2010. He is married to Nonie Connor.

Connor was a farmer and veterinarian at Kangarilla before entering politics. He was the founder and president of the Organised Dairymen's Association of South Australia, a long-serving president of the McLaren Flat Agricultural Bureau, the founder of the McLaren Flat Show, and the promoter of the McLaren Flat vine and fruit pruning competition. He was elected to the House of Assembly at a 1934 by-election in the otherwise safe Liberal and Country League seat of Alexandra, following the death of conservative MP George Laffer. In his campaign, he was supported by the Dairymen's Association, Alec Bagot's Citizens' League and independent MP Tom Stott. He opposed tariffs for their impact on primary producers, opposed the extension of that term of parliament to five years, advocated a reduction in members of parliament in and the introduction of proportional representation, and suggested that funds for a proposed extension of Parliament House should be spent on primary producers instead.

He was re-elected at the 1938 election, defeating long-serving conservative MP Herbert Hudd upon the change from multi-member to single-member districts. In 1938, he was one of 14 of 39 lower house MPs to be elected as an independent, which as a grouping won 40 percent of the primary vote, more than either of the major parties. He retired at the 1941 election due to ill health, and died in September that year.